Blogging The Boys
Every week, we’re digging into the trenches, offense and defense, because that’s where the real action happens. In this installment, we’re shining a spotlight on the offensive line, who’s holding it down, who’s opening holes for the running backs, and who’s keeping Dak Prescott clean. Let’s get to it.
(2025 Stats: 607 Total Snaps, 391 Pass Blocks, 29 Pressures, 6 QB Hits, 2 Sacks, 5 Penalties)
Guyton gets a full trench test against the Philly’s defensive front this week, and the numbers paint an interesting picture. Individually, Guyton’s been sturdier than the label suggests and tracking has him at a 93% pass block win rate, that’s 18th among all NFL tackles, while Dallas as a unit sits 10th in team Pass Block Win Rate at 66%, and 13th in team Run Block Win Rate at 72%. That’s the steady platform you want before you invite chaos to the party.
Across the line of scrimmage, the Eagles are oddly middle of the pack by win-rate math. They’re 19th in pass rush win rate at 36% and 24th in run stop win rate at 29%. But the personnel they have playing are far from middle of the pack. The team added Jaelan Phillips before the deadline trade adding more firepower to the defensive line and ranks eighth in run stop win rate among edge defenders. Jordan Davis is tenth among defensive tackles in run-stop win rate (40%), and Jalen Carter ranks 18th among defensive tackles in pass-rush win rate.
Zoom out to the matchups Guyton will actually see. New Eagle Jaelan Phillips is flashing exactly what he flashed in Miami while Vic Fangio has been mixing him into stunts and overloads since the deal went through. Inside, Jordan Davis is a space-eater who converts knock-back into run disruption, and Carter remains their most dangerous interior pass rusher, ranking third on the team in total pressures, right behind a lesser talked player in Moro Ojomo, who also needs attention heading into this game.
PFF sees an interesting split for Guyton. His pass-block grade of 51.5, run-block grade at 62.1 suggests he still has work to do as neither of these grades rank in the top-40 among offensive tackles. That tracks with the season log of five flags so far (three false starts, one hold, one ineligible man downfield), and that’s the sort of drive-killers that make good blocks vanish from memory and give Cowboys fans reason to complain.
The good news for Guyton is he had a great game last week against a decent Las Vegas defensive line. The trend hopefully continues as we head into the back half of the season, but the schedule from here on out gets tough, so Guyton needs to be on form certainly for the next four weeks as Dallas heads into the dog-days here. This is the first big test for him, so pay close attention to his performance this week.
*(2025 Stats: 614...
